Today SAM tools go further than just an inventory. They've become smarter and use NLP and AI technologies, for example Binadox. They are able to analyze license texts, find the most critical elements and compare different licenses. Moreover, they also monitor SAAS subscriptions and usage and track software usage. Today SAM tools play the key role in Software Asset Management and save businesses lots of recources.

If you install it, you owe for it. Any installation creates a constructive liability.

Copyright Law - Title 17 of U.S. Code.

Organizations should, therefore, consider the business risks of uncontrolled installation of software, and the resulting, perhaps unplanned, liabilities. And, create controls appropriate to the risk.

We see companies that have gotten a single true-up settlement, with a single supplier, of 23% of the total IT budget. And, then, the other suppliers also seem to find out. If in an industry with high IT costs, say 7% - 8% of revenue, this can result in a unplanned liability in the 3% to 4% of overall revenue. Close to a reportable event on annual report. And, certainly, a huge unplanned expenditure.

Where companies are most at risk seems, these days, to be the uncontrolled use of "Cloud" and copies of platforms to the "Cloud" that create significant liability. A single Virtual platform can contain $30k or more of software - for which the company is instantly liable, most often without preventative controls.

@Lorna...Whenever I read about VDI or it was brought up I could never get a clear answer on licensing. I think you are correct, there is a lot of confusion over that topic. I am under the impression it is very costly to implement VDI. That may be incorrect because I never got that clear answer. I look forward to reading your survey.

Seems to me that audit provisions would be something a large company could strike from the contract by threatening to go with a competitor's software. If that doesn't work, there's always open-source...

Rob, Software vendors have the authority to audit their customers under the terms and conditions of the EULA (End User License Agreement) that the customer agrees to. The EULA typically spells out the length of time required for audit notification, and how the audit will be conducted. Most companies accept the audit provision terms without understanding or preparing for the repercussions. The audit is typically conducted onsite by a third part firm hired by the ISV.

Easier to control piracy with the SaaS model, too. No suprise that vendors are doing more of their own auditing these days. It's a good conversation starter to get customers to move to from traditional licensing to SaaS.

The point about virtualization/private-cloud complicating licensing is also key - enterprise software vendors definitely have not kept up with use of server virtualization, never mind desktop. In fact, I think that licensing confusion is one big reason VDI never took off. IT had to pay for the VDI software plus had the same licensing costs.

I'm hoping to do a survey and report on this in 2014, get IT's side of the story.

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